


By Your Side

by IseliaDragonwill



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Boys Kissing, Canon Compliant, Falling In Love, Fluff, Ignis is stubborn, M/M, Mild Blood, Minor Injuries, Post-Canon, Prompto is awkward, World of Ruin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 13:31:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14672091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IseliaDragonwill/pseuds/IseliaDragonwill
Summary: Prompto and Ignis reminisce on how Ignis learned to cook again after losing his vision. WOR flashback.





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic from my old account that I never got around to reposting. Made some minor edits. Still mostly happy with it, even after almost a year. It's not perfect, but hey whatever.

“Do you remember the first time I helped you cook?”

Ignis looked up from the carrots he was chopping. It was an old habit that he had never quite managed to shed, despite losing his vision all those years ago. Even if he couldn’t see, years of lessons in court manners had stuck with him, causing him to tilt his head in curiosity as he attempted to make eye contact with Prompto.

“As I recall, it was less cooking and more you preventing me from losing a finger.”

A light laugh came in response. “And you weren’t happy with me about that. Not at first.”

Ignis sighed. Those first weeks after losing his sight had been more than difficult. Not only had his world gone dark, but Noctis had been lost to the crystal around that time. To say he had been less than agreeable with his friends would have been a gross understatement. Trying to learn how to do even simple tasks without his vision was a constant exercise in patience and humility; one that he hardly was able to complete without feeling the need to snap at someone. Gladio and Prompto had tried to give him space, but there were times they intervened and refused to take no for an answer, ignoring Ignis's protests. He hadn't appreciated it then. Each perceived failure was just another nick to the weeping wound that was his pride.

“Admitting that I required assistance was a foreign concept to me. It had always been my duty to be there for everyone else. To have the tables turned was an adjustment.” The corners of his lips turned up in a wry smile. “But not one I regret, dear Prompto.”

Even though he knew the other man couldn't see it, Prompto turned his head to the side to hide the blush on his cheeks. That day had marked a turning point that neither of them would ever come back from and would never want to. Prompto had been passing by Takka’s Diner in Hammerhead, on the way to collect weapon inventory or some other menial task. He couldn't remember anymore. What he did remember was peeking his head into the open door and watching Ignis trying to reacquaint himself with a kitchen.

Prompto couldn't help but be in awe. Taking quiet steps, he inched himself into the diner, out of the chill winds of the endless night that had settled over them since Noct's disappearance and into the hazy, fluorescent glow of hanging lights. Ignis hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet, but this was before his hearing had eclipsed that of a normal person and bordered on something preternatural. He was distracted from trying to etch the locations of the stove, countertops and various utensils and ingredients into his mind. It made it easier for Prompto to admire the way his gloveless fingers curled around the handle of the knife in his hand.

Wait, Ignis wasn’t wearing his gloves? That was rare to see. Prompto was at once struck, both by how beautiful Ignis’s hands and manicured fingers were and how his own paled in comparison, stricken by callouses and dirt hidden under ragged fingernails. A low coil of warmth in his stomach fought for life, as Prompto wondered what those fingers might look like wrapped around…

No. Stop it. They both had enough to worry about without his feelings complicating things. It’s not like Ignis would feel the same anyways. No matter how many times he had been there to lend a guiding hand or catch him as he fell, he would only ever be a friend. He could live with it, if it meant getting to be by Ignis’s side.

A loud hiss interrupted his thoughts. Prompto looked up to see Ignis clutching his hand to his chest, streams of red flowing over his hands and threatening to stain his shirt.

“Ignis! What did you do to your hand?” He rushed behind the counter, no longer caring if Ignis knew he was there. 

“Prompto, I'm quite alright. It's just a scratch.” Ignis tried to keep his wounded hand from Prompto's scrutiny, but was woefully unsuccessful.

“That's a lot more than a scratch. What were you even trying to do?” He saw an open bag of potatoes off to the side and a half-sliced, now-bloodied one on the countertop. “Get a craving for fries? Man, you would always make fun of me for eating fast food.”

Ignis scowled and averted his gaze to the side, without an answer. If Prompto didn't know any better, he'd say that the older man almost looked embarrassed. 

“Look.” With a hand on the small of Ignis's back, he led him to the sink to wash off the cut. To Prompto's dismay, Ignis had managed to slice through the first knuckle of nearly every finger. “I know you want to start figuring out how to do things on your own again, but you're not going to get there if you chop off your hand.” He untied his bandana from his arm and knotted it around Ignis's hand, after patting it dry.

Ignis stiffened. “This is hardly the worst thing I've had to figure out on my own. I'll manage.”

Prompto didn't know why he had expected a different response, but was surprised at Ignis's stubbornness, nonetheless. “I don't care if it's the worst or not. You don't have to do it alone.” Something between frustration and longing caught in his voice. “You've always been there for us!” 

He quieted. “You've always been there for me…let me help. Please.”

It felt like an eternity before Ignis responded. Hands extended, fingers dancing over freckled cheeks, they slowly made their way to Prompto's narrow shoulders and squeezed. “What did you have in mind?” He sounded resigned, but not unwilling to cooperate.

The feeling of Ignis's hands on his shoulders left his knees weak and his mind foggy, so much that Prompto hadn't realized that he wasn't being rejected, at first. Once it did sink in though, a bright smile lit up his face, as he guided Ignis back to the prep area and stood behind him, taking each of his hands in one of his own. 

“Hold on, you're too tall.”

Grabbing an empty produce crate, Prompto plunked the box behind Ignis and got up on it. Thankfully, it was high enough that Prompto could see over his shoulder, as he took the Ignis’s wrists in his hands once more. For the most part, he let Ignis lead with the knife, standing by to correct him if he got too close to cutting himself on accident. He tried not to think about how his chest pressed into Ignis’s back or how his cheek would occasionally brush the shell of Ignis’s ear as they worked, but his small gasps of breath at each glancing touch gave him away.

“Not used to this, are you?” Ignis’s voice was too even. Too calm.

Prompto would have reeled backwards if he didn’t have the presence of mind to know that he still was holding onto Ignis’s wrist, trying to avoid further accidents from the sharp blade he held in his hand. “Oh uh...yeah? I guess I haven’t cooked anything in a while, with you normally doing it and all. Plus I don’t want you to cut yourself again and…”

A curious, contented hum resonated in Ignis’s chest. Prompto’s heart fluttered. 

“Perhaps, we should make a habit of this, so you feel more comfortable.”

He couldn’t mean...could he?

“Umm...I’d like that.”

 

An urging kiss drew Prompto out of his memories. Long fingers threaded through his hair, as a probing tongue nudged at his lower lip. He relented, letting the taste of Ignis wash over him in a comforting wave of weakened knees and needy whimpers. With a nip on his lower lip, Ignis pulled back, leaving Prompto breathless.

“Now that I seem to have your attention, will you assist me?”

“Anytime!” Prompto bounded around to the other side of the counter, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he wrapped his arms around Ignis’s waist and pressed the length of his body against him.

“But you’re still too tall.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](https://iseliadragonwill.tumblr.com) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/FallenIsel)!


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